Anne Geggis
Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office Deputy Chief Assistant Alexcia Cox is in the lead in a four-person money race to succeed her boss, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg.
Her campaign reports she’s raised more than $100,000 since launching her campaign to be the county’s top prosecutor in mid-June.
Official filings show she raised $94,000 as of the last reporting period that ended Sept. 30. She’s firmly in the lead for collecting donations among four Democrats who have filed for the job that Aronberg is vacating after serving 12 years.
“I am humbled and grateful for the outpouring of support we have received in such a short period,” Cox said in a prepared statement her campaign provided. “The early success of our campaign is a reflection of our community’s desire for strong, tested leadership they know and trust.”
Cox began her legal career nearly two decades ago as a domestic violence prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. She started the felony section of the office’s Domestic Violence Unit and later became the unit’s chief, overseeing all aspects of misdemeanor and felony case management while supervising attorneys assigned to the unit.
Aronberg in 2019 made Cox his first Deputy Chief Assistant, according to a press release from her campaign.
Aronberg’s No. 2 is also Cox’s closest competitor in the money race for the top job. Chief Assistant State Attorney Craig Williams has worked in the State Attorney’s Office for 26 years. He’s responsible for felony trial intake, organized crime and traffic homicide.
Filing to run 45 days after Cox, Williams has raised $25,000 from donors and he’s loaned his campaign $50,000.
Over the 54 days he’s been collecting donations, Williams drew the maximum donation amount from 20 of his 37 third-quarter donors, most of them attorneys.
Cox’s collections for the third quarter show more diverse, grass-roots support, however. Thirteen out of 236 contributions hit the maximum. Lawyers are among her supporters but she also drew donations from Florida Crystals, a sugar company; financial advisors; and Smitty’s Wings Sistrunk in Fort Lauderdale, which gave her the maximum $1,000.
Notable donors to her campaign include Lewis Stahl, who served time in federal prison for tax evasion, giving $1,000 and Palm Beach County School Board member Erica Whitfield who donated $50.
Other Democrats vying for Aronberg’s job are Rolando Silva, a retired Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBCSO) captain and Gregg Lerman, a longtime defense attorney in the area.
As of Sept. 30, Lerman has raised $35,354 and spent $21,339, the biggest spender in the race.
Silva’s latest financial report shows $36,000 raised from 138 donors in 30 days and $315 spent.
